Language and the brain: contribution of neuroimaging studies

Abstract

The implementation of neuroimaging techniques in the study of human cognition, including language, has aided the enlargement of our knowledge of lesioned and healthy human brain functioning. Specifically regarding language, this advance has lead to the flourishing of a new research area, neurolinguistics (or neuropsycholinguistics, as it has recently also be named). The present article aims at presenting the scope of this new science, by reviewing its main fields of investigation and the main contributions brought by it in the past years, as well as pointing to its limitations and further challenges. The article focuses mainly on studies about normal functioning of language in adults.